Self-Rating of Quality of Life Provides Additional Prognostic Information in Heart Failure. Insights into the EPICAL Study

BACKGROUND: The relationship between quality of life (QoL) and survival have been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the value of QoL score as a prognostic factor in a prospective cohort of patients with advanced chronic heart failure (CHF). METHODS: QoL assessment was performed with a generic questionnaire: the Duke Health Profile (DHP) and a disease-specific instrument: the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire (LIhFE), in a sample of 108 patients registered in the EPICAL program (hospitalised patients with severe CHF defined by a NYHA grade III/IV, oedema or hypotension, and LVEF < 30%). Prognostic value of general, physical, mental and social dimensions on survival and hospital-free survival were tested in a Cox model. RESULTS: One-year survival rate was 76%, 1-year hospital-free survival 38%. QoL was significantly associated with outcomes: for both questionnaires, a 10-point decrement in baseline score was associated with a 23-36% increase in the risk of death or hospitalisation for heart failure. For hospital-free survival, this relationship remained significant after adjustment for others prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: QoL score is a predictive factor of survival and an independent predictive factor of hospital-free survival in patients with advanced CHF. This assessment may provide additional information for clinical management and therapeutic decisions.